Raspberry Pi 5 IMX519 Camera Setup

Published

September 27, 2025

Modified

September 27, 2025

This guide explains how to connect and configure the Arducam IMX519 camera on the Raspberry Pi 5, and how to test still captures using shell scripts.

Tested Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi 5 – 8GB RAM
  • Arducam IMX519 Camera Module, SKU: B0371 x 2
  • CSI 22-to-22-pin Ribbon Cable (15 cm or 20 cm recommended) x 2
  • Raspberry Pi Official Power Supply (5V/3A or higher, 27 W PSU recommended)
  • microSD Card 16 GB with Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) installed

Initial setup steps for Raspberry Pi OS can be found in the Raspberry Pi Documentation.

1. Hardware Connection

For camera connection we followed the Arducam Quick Start Guide for Hardware Setup.

Camera Connection

Camera Connection

The actual camera connection looks like this:

Camera Connection Actual

Make sure the ribbon cable is properly seated in the connector with the blue stiffener facing outward (toward the Ethernet port) and the metal contacts facing inward toward the board.

Dual Camera Connection on Raspberry Pi 5

The Raspberry Pi 5 includes two CSI connectors labeled CAM0 and CAM1. Connect one camera to each port using 22-pin ribbons.

Both ports require the cable’s metal contacts to face the Ethernet port.

Dual Camera Connection

Final Assembly

After connecting the cameras, ensure everything is securely in place. Attach any necessary heatsinks or cooling solutions, and insert the microSD card with Raspberry Pi OS installed. Finally, connect the power supply to boot up the Raspberry Pi 5. Attach peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor) or set up SSH for headless operation.

Final Assembly

2. Software Setup

For this step, we followed the Arducam IMX519 Software Setup Guide, specifically the instructions for Raspberry Pi Bullseye OS 6.1.21 and Later / Bookworm OS.

Note on software stacks: Raspberry Pi’s official rpicam-apps are generally preferred for Pi 5, but in our tests they did not successfully detect the IMX519. The method below, using Arducam’s packages, worked reliably. Other setups may succeed with rpicam-apps, but this guide documents the tested path.

Step 1: Download the bash script

wget -O install_pivariety_pkgs.sh https://github.com/ArduCAM/Arducam-Pivariety-V4L2-Driver/releases/download/install_script/install_pivariety_pkgs.sh

chmod +x install_pivariety_pkgs.sh

Step 2: Install libcamera

./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p libcamera_dev

Step 3: Install libcamera-apps

./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p libcamera_apps

Step 4: Modify the boot configuration

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

Add or modify the following:

# Disable auto-detect (doesn’t catch third-party sensors reliably)
camera_auto_detect=0

[all]
dtoverlay=imx519,cam0
dtoverlay=imx519

The first line (imx519,cam0) explicitly enables CAM0. The second (imx519) allows the kernel to probe CAM1 automatically. Both are needed for dual-camera setups.

Optional: enable debug logging:

dtdebug=1

Save and reboot:

sudo reboot

3. Verify Camera Detection

After rebooting:

rpicam-hello --list-cameras

Expected output (dual IMX519s):

Available cameras
-----------------
0 : imx519 [4656x3496 …] (/base/axi/pcie@…/i2c@88000/imx519@1a)
1 : imx519 [4656x3496 …] (/base/axi/pcie@…/i2c@80000/imx519@1a)

If you want to confirm the media graph:

v4l2-ctl --list-devices
media-ctl -p

4. Test Cameras

Preview from each camera

rpicam-hello --camera 0 -t 5000
rpicam-hello --camera 1 -t 5000

Capture a still image

rpicam-jpeg --camera 0 -o cam0.jpg
rpicam-jpeg --camera 1 -o cam1.jpg

Record short video

rpicam-vid --camera 0 -t 10000 -o cam0.h264
rpicam-vid --camera 1 -t 10000 -o cam1.h264

5. Troubleshooting

  • Error -5: failed to read chip id → Sensor not responding on I²C

    • Reseat ribbon, check orientation.
    • Ensure latch is fully closed.
    • Try swapping CAM0 ↔︎ CAM1.

  • Only one camera detected → Confirm both dtoverlay lines exist. Swap modules/cables to isolate the fault.

  • No /dev/video0 → Driver didn’t bind sensor. Check logs:

    dmesg | grep imx

  • Check power health →

    vcgencmd get_throttled

    0x0 = healthy. Non-zero means undervoltage; use official PSU.

  • Enable debug logs (if dtdebug=1 is set):

    dmesg | grep -i imx
sudo vcdbg log msg